From Farm House to the White House Part 16

Mr. Everett says of him further: "Lord Fairfax was a man of cultivated mind, educated at Oxford, the a.s.sociate of the wits of London, the author of one or two papers in the _Spectator_, and an _habitue_ of the polite circles of the metropolis. A disappointment in love is said to have cast a shadow over his after life, and to have led him to pa.s.s his time in voluntary exile on his Virginia estates, watching and promoting the rapid development of the resources of the country, following the hounds through the primeval forests, and cheering his solitary hours by reading and a limited society of chosen friends."

The "love affair" to which Mr. Everett refers is explained by Mr. Irving as follows:

"In the height of his fas.h.i.+onable career he became strongly attached to a young lady of rank, paid his addresses, and was accepted. The wedding day was fixed; the wedding dresses were provided, together with servants and equipages for the matrimonial establishment. Suddenly the lady broke her engagement. She had been dazzled by the superior brilliancy of a ducal coronet.

"It was a cruel blow alike to the affection and pride of Lord Fairfax, and wrought a change in both character and conduct. From that time he almost avoided the s.e.x, and became shy and embarra.s.sed in their society, excepting among those with whom he was connected or particularly intimate. This may have been among the reasons which ultimately induced him to abandon the gay world and bury himself in the wilds of America."

Lord Fairfax was charmed by the appearance of George.

"A remarkable lad," he said to his relative, William Fairfax; "so manly, so intelligent in knowledge beyond his years."

"Yet not a mere book-worm," replied William. "No boy likes games and hunting better than he."

"A capital horseman, I notice," added the n.o.bleman; "strong and powerful for one of his years. Yet he likes books. It seems to me that he is unusually fond of reading."

Lord Fairfax possessed quite a number of valuable books, new and rare to George, who had pored over them with absorbing interest. The n.o.bleman inferred that he must possess an unusual taste for reading, and this was really true.

"Yes, he generally wants to know what the books he meets with contain,"

responded William. "He has made the contents of such books as he could reach his own."

"I must take him out hunting with me," continued Lord Fairfax. "He will make a good companion, I imagine."

Lord Fairfax delighted in fox-hunting. In England, before he came to this country, his best sport was found in the fox-hunt. He kept his hounds, and all the accoutrements for the chase, so that he was always prepared for the sport. He found increased pleasure in the pastime after George became his companion in the chase. The latter enjoyed it, too, with a keen relish. It was not altogether new to him; he had been occasionally on such excursions with others. But the English n.o.bleman understood fox-hunting as no one else in Virginia did. He had learned it as practised by English lords, who live in baronial style. For this reason George enjoyed the wild sport as he never did before.

One day George was surprised by a proposition from Lord Fairfax.

"How would you like to survey my lands for me, George? You appear to understand the business."

"I should like nothing better if I can do it to suit you," George answered. "I like surveying."

"Well, the only way for me to do is to survey my land, and sell it, if I would keep 'squatters' off," added Lord Fairfax. "Squatters" were a cla.s.s of persons took up their abode upon lands which did not belong to them, without leave or license.

"You can do it to suit me, I have no doubt," continued the n.o.ble lord, "and I can satisfy you as to pay."

"I will confer with Lawrence about it," said George; "and I shall want to see my mother, also, I have no doubt but that they will think well of the plan."

"That is right," answered Lord Fairfax. "Think it over carefully before you decide. You can undertake the work any time."

George was not long in consulting Lawrence, nor in securing the approval of his mother. He had frequently been home to see his mother, improving every favorable opportunity to show his filial devotion thereby. On this visit, the prospect of an honorable and remunerative pursuit added interest thereto.

Having obtained the approval of his mother and Lawrence, and formally accepted the proposition of Lord Fairfax, George set to work in earnest preparation for the task. He would be under the necessity of plunging into the wilderness, where savage beasts and savage men might confront him at almost any time. He must travel on horseback with attendants carrying his outfit at considerable disadvantage, shooting game and catching fish for food, and be absent weeks and possibly months at a time. Camping out at night, or finding a lodge in some poor cabin, breasting severe storms, encountering Indians, and other new experiences required preparation.

George William Fairfax, a son of William, accompanied him, together with two or three attendants. A writer describes the heroic boy, then sixteen years of age, as follows:

"There he is, a tall, handsome youth, with his right arm thrown across the horse's neck, and his left hand grasping his compa.s.s-staff. He is clad in a buck-skin hunting-s.h.i.+rt, with leggings and moccasins of the same material, the simple garb of a backwoods man, and one that well becomes him now, as in perfect keeping with the wildness of the surrounding scenery; while in his broad leathern belt are stuck the long hunting-knife and Indian tomahawk. In stature he is much above most youths of the same age. He is of a n.o.ble, robust form, with high and strong but smooth features, light brown hair, large blue eyes, not brilliant, but beaming with a clear and steady light, as if a soul looked through them that knew no taint of vice or meanness, and a countenance aglow with truth and courage, modest gentleness, and manly self-reliance."

"You must continue to keep your journal," said Lawrence; "it will be more valuable than ever to you."

George had kept a journal of events and experiences for two or three years, and his brother encouraged him in doing it as valuable discipline.

"I intend to do it," answered George, "and I shall take more interest in it because I shall have something worth recording."

"Twenty or thirty years from now you will put a higher value upon your journal than you do now," added Lawrence. "I should recommend every youth to keep a journal."

"Especially in the woods," responded George, facetiously.

"Yes, in the woods or out; no boy can afford to lose the discipline of it," rejoined Lawrence. "For so simple and easy practice it pays a large interest."

"Small investments and large income! That is what you mean," remarked George.

"Exactly; my word for it, you will find it so," added Lawrence.

That journal has proved of far more value than Lawrence predicted. After the lapse of over one hundred and thirty years, we are able to learn from it about the hards.h.i.+ps, dangers, and severe labors of his surveying expeditions. A few extracts from letters and journal will afford an insight into that important period of his life.

He wrote to one of his friends, after an experience of several months, thus:

"Your letter gave me the more pleasure, as I received it among barbarians, and an uncouth set of people. Since you received my last letter I have not slept above three or four nights in a bed; but after walking a good deal all the day, I have lain down before the fire upon a little hay, straw, fodder, or a bear-skin--whichsoever was to be had--with man, wife, and children, like dogs and cats; and happy is he who gets the berth nearest the fire. Nothing would make it pa.s.s off tolerably but a good reward. A doubloon[A] is my constant gain every day that the weather will permit my going out, and sometimes six pistoles[B]. The coldness of the weather will not allow of my making a long stay, as the lodging is rather too cold for the time of year. I have never had my clothes off, but have lain and slept in them, except the few nights I have been in Fredericksburg."

[A] $7 50.

[B] A pistole was $3.50

The entry in his journal for the third day after he started, in March, 1748, was as follows:

"Worked hard till night, and then returned. After supper we were lighted into a room; and I, not being so good a woodsman as the rest, stripped myself very orderly, and went into the bed, as they called it, when, to my surprise, I found it to be nothing but a little straw matted together, without sheet or anything else, but only one threadbare blanket, with double its weight of vermin. I was glad to get up and put on my clothes, and lie as my companions did. Had we not been very tired, I am sure that we should not have slept much that night. I made a promise to sleep so no more, choosing rather to sleep in the open air before a fire."

George commenced operations for Lord Fairfax early in March, when the mountains were still white with snow, and wintry blasts swept over the plains. The heavy rains of spring had swollen the streams into torrents, so that it was perilous to ford them. Of course the hards.h.i.+ps of such an expedition were largely increased by the rough, cold weather of the season.

Abbot says: "The enterprise upon which Was.h.i.+ngton had entered was one full of romance, toil, and peril. It required the exercise of constant vigilance and sagacity. Though these wilds may be called pathless still there were here and there narrow trails, which the moccasined foot of the savage had trodden for centuries. They led in a narrow track, scarcely two feet in breadth, through dense thickets, over craggy hills, and along the banks of placid streams or foaming torrents."

Everett says: "The hards.h.i.+ps of this occupation will not be fully comprehended by those who are acquainted with the surveyor's duties only as they are practised in old and thickly settled countries. In addition to the want of accommodation, the service was attended by serious perils. In new countries, of which 'squatters' have begun to take possession, the surveyor is at all times a highly unwelcome visitor, and sometimes goes about his duties at the risk of his life. Besides this, a portion of the land traversed by Was.h.i.+ngton formed a part of that debatable land, the disputed right to which was the original moving cause of the 'Seven Years' War.' The French were already in motion, both from Canada and Louisiana, to preoccupy the banks of the Ohio, and the savages in their interest roamed the intervening country up to the settlements of Virginia."

Another entry in his journal is the following:

"Rained till about two o'clock, and then cleared up, when we were agreeably surprised at the sight of more than thirty Indians, coming from war with only one scalp. We had some liquor with us, of which we gave them a part. This, elevating their spirits, put them in the humor of dancing. We then had a war dance. After clearing a large s.p.a.ce, and making a great fire in the middle, the men seated themselves around it, and the speaker made a grand speech, telling them in what manner they were to dance. After he had finished, the best dancer jumped up, as one awakened from sleep, and ran and jumped about the ring in the most comical manner. He was followed by the rest. Then began their music, which was performed with a pot half full of water, and a deer skin stretched tight over it, and a gourd with some shot in it to rattle, and a piece of horse's tail tied to it to make it look fine. One person kept rattling and another drumming all the while they were dancing."

George had never seen Indians in their wigwams until his surveying expedition. He had never witnessed a war dance nor been brought face to face with these red men until he engaged in this pursuit for Lord Fairfax. The Indians were friendly, though it was known that they looked upon the encroachments of the English colonists with suspicion, if not with some bitterness. Occasionally a wandering band plundered defenceless families and spread consternation abroad. But such hostile demonstrations were exceptional.

"Strange must have been the emotions which at times agitated the bosom of this pensive, reflective, heroic boy, as at midnight, far away from the haunts of civilization, in the wigwam of the savage, he listened to the wailings of the storm, interrupted only by the melancholy cry of the night-bird, and the howl of wolves and other unknown beasts of prey. By the flickering light of the wigwam fire, he saw, sharing his couch, the dusky form of the Indian hunter, his squaw, and his pappooses."

Other entries in his journal show that George was compelled to submit to privations that were new and strange to him.

"Travelled up to Solomon Hedges', Esquire, to-day, one of _His Majesty's Justices of the Peace_, in the county of Frederick, where we camped.

When we came to supper there was neither a knife on the table nor a fork to eat with; but as good luck would have it, we had knives of our own."

George put in italics the words indicated, evidently to call attention to the poverty and degradation of some of "His Majesty's Justices." He had a high-sounding t.i.tle to his name, but neither knife nor fork!

"April 8: We camped in the woods, and after we had pitched our tent and made a large fire, we pulled out our knapsacks to recruit ourselves.

Every one was his own cook. Our spits were forked sticks, our plates were large chips. As for dishes, we had none."